Early life

Keitel was born in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, the son of Miriam (née Klein) and Harry Keitel, who were Jewish emigrants from Romania and Poland, respectively.[3] His parents owned and ran a luncheonette and his father also worked as a hat maker.

Cast as Captain Willard in Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now (1979), Keitel was involved with the first week of principal photography in the Philippines. Coppola was not happy with Keitel's take on Willard, stating that the actor "found it difficult to play him a passive onlooker".[5] After viewing the first week's footage, Coppola replaced Keitel with a casting session favorite, Martin Sheen.

He also appeared in the Steinlager Pure commercials in New Zealand in 2007. Unlike many American male actors, Keitel has appeared nude in several films, including full frontal nudity in Bad Lieutenant and The Piano.

In January 2008, Keitel played Jerry Springer in the New York City premiere of Jerry Springer: The Opera at Carnegie Hall.[4] In 2008, Keitel was cast in the role of Detective Gene Hunt in ABC's short-lived US remake of the successful British time-travel police drama series Life on Mars.[7]

Personal life

Keitel was in a long-term relationship with actress Lorraine Bracco. They met in 1983 but the relationship ended acrimoniously in the early 1990s with a prolonged custody battle over their daughter.[12] He married actress Daphna Kastner in 2001. Keitel is the father of three children: daughter Stella (born 1985) from his relationship with Bracco; son Hudson (born 2001) from his relationship with Lisa Karmazin; and son Roman (born 2004) from his marriage to Kastner. He is a godfather of close friend Michael Madsen's son Max.

A Lie of the Mind is a play written by Sam Shepard, first staged at the off-Broadway Promenade Theater on 5 December 1985. The play was directed by Shepard himself with stars Harvey Keitel as Jake, Amanda Plummer as Beth, Aidan Quinn as Frankie, Geraldine Page as Lorraine, and Will Patton as Mike. The music was composed and played by the North Carolina bluegrass group the Red Clay Ramblers.

Some critics consider the play the conclusion of a quintet which includes Shepard's Family Trilogy: Curse of the Starving Class (1976), Buried Child (1979), and True West (1980), plus Fool for Love (1983).

Blue in the Face was filmed over a five-day period as a follow-up to Wang's 1995 movie Smoke. During production of Smoke, Keitel and the others ad-libbed scenes in-character between takes and a sequel was made using this improvised material.

Lily Tomlin was nominated for an American Comedy Award as "Funniest Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture" for her performance in this picture.

Blue in the Face features songs by singer Selena. Her bilingual duet with David Byrne, "God's Child (Baila Conmigo)", appears on the film's soundtrack.

Clockers is a 1995 American crime drama film directed by Spike Lee. It is an adaptation of the 1992 novel of the same name by Richard Price, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Lee. The film stars Harvey Keitel, John Turturro, Delroy Lindo, and Mekhi Phifer in his debut film role. Set in New York City, Clockers tells the story of Strike (Phifer), a street-level drug dealer who becomes entangled in a murder investigation.

Copkiller or Copkiller (l'assassino dei poliziotti), also known as Corrupt and The Order of Death, is a 1983 Italian crime thriller film directed by Roberto Faenza and starring Harvey Keitel and musician John Lydon, the singer for the bands Sex Pistols and Public Image Ltd. It is based on Hugh Fleetwood's novel The Order of Death, which was set to be the original title of the production. Fleetwood also adapted and wrote the screenplay with Faenza and Ennio de Concini. The music was composed by Ennio Morricone.According to IMDb it was filmed in 1981 and released in 1983 in Italy and 1984 in United States. It is Lydon's only starring role in film to date.

Finding Graceland is a 1998 American film starring Harvey Keitel, Johnathon Schaech, Bridget Fonda, and Gretchen Mol. The film features a character who claims to be an alive-and-well Elvis, years after staging his death.

From Dusk Till Dawn is a 1996 American crime and horror film directed by Robert Rodriguez and written by Quentin Tarantino. It stars Harvey Keitel, George Clooney, Tarantino, and Juliette Lewis. After enjoying modest success at the box office, it has since become a cult film.

Ginostra is 2002 crime fiction film written and directed by Manuel Pradal, starring Harvey Keitel (Matt Benson), Andie MacDowell (Jessie). The story is about an FBI officer (Harvey Keitel) investigating the murder of a would-be informant, attempts to contact the only person who knows the truth behind the killings - the dead man's eleven-year-old son.

The 3rd Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards, presented by the Independent Filmmaker Project, were held on September 28, 1993 and were hosted by Eric Bogosian. At the ceremony, Martin Scorsese was honored with a Career Tribute with Harvey Keitel, John Guare, Patrizia von Brandenstein and David Brown receiving the other individual awards.

Mean Streets is a 1973 American crime film directed by Martin Scorsese and co-written by Scorsese and Mardik Martin. The film stars Harvey Keitel and Robert De Niro. It was released by Warner Bros. on October 2, 1973. De Niro won the National Society of Film Critics award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as "Johnny Boy" Civello.

In 1997, Mean Streets was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Mortal Thoughts is a 1991 American dramatic mystery thriller, about a woman who is interrogated by the police regarding the death of her friend's husband. It was directed by Alan Rudolph and stars Demi Moore, Glenne Headly, Bruce Willis, and Harvey Keitel. Willis plays James Urbanski, the violent, drug-addicted husband of Joyce (Headly), who is murdered one evening at a Feast of Saint Rocco festival.

Point of No Return (also known as The Assassin) is a 1993 American action film directed by John Badham and starring Bridget Fonda and Gabriel Byrne. It is a remake of Luc Besson's 1990 film Nikita.

Maggie Hayward (Bridget Fonda) is a violent and unstable drug addict found guilty of murdering a police officer, and is sentenced to death by lethal injection. Her death is faked, and a secret government agent named Bob (Gabriel Byrne) informs her that she is to become an assassin. She is given a makeover and training that transform her into a beautiful woman, and she is also trained as a killer. Her career as an assassin goes well at first. Then, after a mission goes awry, the agency sends in Victor (Harvey Keitel), a "cleaner," to kill everyone and destroy the bodies.

Shadows in the Sun is a television movie starring Harvey Keitel and Joshua Jackson. It premiered on ABC Family in 2005. It was written and directed by Brad Mirman, and was filmed under the title The Shadow Dancer.

Smoke is a 1995 American independent film by Wayne Wang and Paul Auster. The original story was written by Paul Auster, who also wrote the screenplay. The film was produced by Hisami Kuroiwa, Harvey Weinstein and Bob Weinstein and directed by Wayne Wang. Among others, it features Harvey Keitel, William Hurt, Victor Argo, Forest Whitaker, Ashley Judd, Stockard Channing and Harold Perrineau Jr..

The Irishman is an upcoming American biographical crime film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Steven Zaillian, based on the book I Heard You Paint Houses by Charles Brandt. The film stars Robert De Niro as Frank Sheeran, a labor union leader and alleged hitman for the Bufalino crime family, and Al Pacino as Jimmy Hoffa. Joe Pesci, Anna Paquin, Bobby Cannavale, Harvey Keitel, and Ray Romano also star. It is the ninth feature collaboration between De Niro and Scorsese, the fourth film to star both De Niro and Pacino (following The Godfather Part II, Heat and Righteous Kill) and the first time Pacino has been directed by Scorsese.

The Irishman was always a desired passion project for Scorsese, and in September 2014 it was confirmed it would be his next film following Silence (2016). Pacino and De Niro were confirmed that month, as was Pesci, who came out of his unofficial retirement to star after being asked numerous times to take the role. Filming began in New York City in September 2017, and lasted until March 2018. With a production budget as high as $200 million, it is the most expensive project of Scorsese's career. The film is anticipated to be released by Netflix in 2019. Also, according to Robert De Niro, the film will have a theatrical release, but it will be limited release.

The Men's Club is a 1986 drama film directed by Peter Medak, based on the novel of the same name by Leonard Michaels. It stars Roy Scheider, Harvey Keitel, Frank Langella, Treat Williams, David Dukes and Richard Jordan. It is noted for a scene where Keitel (as Solly Berliner) assertively denies engaging in masturbation.

Ulysses' Gaze (Greek: Το βλέμμα του Οδυσσέα, translit. To Vlemma tou Odyssea) is a 1995 Greek film directed by Theo Angelopoulos and starring Harvey Keitel, Maia Morgenstern, and Erland Josephson. The film was selected as the Greek entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 68th Academy Awards but it was not nominated.

This page is based on a Wikipedia article written by authors
(here).
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.